they're happy to be involved in this campaign and spend literally tens of millions of dollars. >> the conversation so clear where the president is. iowa, colorado, virginia. the conversation turning to education. we saw the huge crowds and the enthusiasm in 2008 especially among the young people and he's trying to get that here in the home stretch come november 6th. how worried are you that they won't show up? >> numbers are about equal in terms of level of support. >> not numbers. how worried? >> we've got to get them enthusiastic. that's the job the president and the whole team has over the next 70-something days is really to put in front of everybody in in election, what are the issues? what's at stake and how important it is. talking to college students about affording college. >> tuition prices have gone up. unemployment for youngsters have

gone up. mitt romney took out a full ad in the college newspaper. >> that's probably the first time he's talked about making college more affordable. mitt romney's plan for making college more affordable was look for some place cheaper to go. that's not an economic development plan. we know what the unemployment rate is nationally. we know it's about half that if you have a college education. we need to make sure that if you work hard in this country and can go to college, the cost isn't and should never be a barrier. >> i agree that college is incredibly important. thank you, sir. >> thank you for having me. now this. as we roll on i'm brooke baldwin live here at the cnn grill.

this is the first full day here of the rnc. we're going to bring you the highlights live. i want to get to a single name that's really dominated the headlines all week long. it's not mitt romney, but isaac. here is what you need to know now. we're not talking tropical storm isaac. we're talking hurricane. it will be making landfall at some point tonight. we're watching closely but take a look at what isaac is doing now. you can see white caps, waves and even the camera bobbing up and down. that's the wind. these are pictures just off of canal boulevard from new orleans. for the last several hours we have been watching the posts disappear. see the posts on the front part of your screen. they are disappearing because

the water is going up, up. those black dots are the posts of walkway that was visible just several hours ago. in terms of the wind, isaac winds are clocked at 75 miles per hour for now, but it's the water that's supposed to bring the major concern of folks that live there. this map shows the area with a 90% likelihood of a storm surge of at least two feet. that's the least that can happen. worst case scenario, isaac could create a storm surge of 12 feet and drop 20 inches of rain. we have jennifer delgado with the most up to date situation when it comes to hurricane is c isaac. i want to begin with you brian todd. that that happened yet? >> reporter: we're told it's not

happened yet. they say it will not close until it reaches flood trigger points. they don't anticipate that until tomorrow, maybe the overnight hours. many of the flood gates around this area have been or are being closed. that particular one not yet. that's the world's largest pumping station. it's designed to not only keep water out but to also pump water out of that area if need be. it can pump 20,000 cubic feet of water per second. it will probably close in the next several hours we think when it reaches those flood trigger points. i'm going to show you something deceiving. take a look. a little peek of blue sky. we know that's not going to last. already the port operations are closed douwn. it's a realtime of anticipation.

it's going to arrive within the next few hours. >> do not be thrown off by the blue skies. we know that will soon go away. tell me about new orleans evacuating. are they heeding warnings to stay safe? >> reporter: most people are sticking around. there's been mandatory evacuations in seven parishes but those are in low lying areas. the city of new orleans no mandatory evacuation. the mayor said for those city residents outside the levee protection area, you should leave just to be safe but they don't anticipate a mandatory evacuation. they don't think it's necessary for this storm. we want to show you some pictures of this storm. what the mayor is warning about is a situation like what we saw at lake ponchatrain. there were people right there by

the lake to get a glimpse and the mayor saying do not do that. we saw plenty of people out there. one guy was sitting on a beverage that was surrounded by water and he finally left. a very imprezzive storm surge. very confident that the levels are going to hold. >> talking to our hurricane tracker saying it's only a category 1 and that's such the wrong mentality. thank you for reminding us about that. i want to go to david. talk too me about what you're seeing. you are soaking wet. i imagine the rain very much so coming down. >> reporter: not just seeing it but feeling it. we're expecting possibly over a foot of rain landing along the mississippi gulf coast throughout this storm. it's getting harder and it's getting more frequent as the

hours go by. the surf is up. the tide is up. everyone anticipating some sort of surge that's coming in. not sure how high that water will push in. back behind me the beach area here in gulf port you can beat that's going to be under water in the next few hours. we're going to be watching to see if it comes up on the highway this time as well. right now to build on what brian todd was talking about no one is taking the storm for granted. the last time i heard anyone talking about a quote minimal hurricane they were referring to hurricane katrina when it came ashore first in florida as a category 1. at that time it amplified quickly as it came ashore and caught everyone by surprise. we know what happened after it went into the gulf and went here and into new orleans after that.

nothing minimal about a hurricane. >> none whatsoever. i know a lot of katrina survivors moved to gulf port where you are. what's their take on what's happening? >> reporter: a lot of people that have chosen to stay here and chosen to rebuild have decided to be smart about what they were doing. the houses they rebuilt, the businesses, the buildings have been reenforced with concrete and steel made to with stand storms like this. one homeowner has walls of six inches thick and windows that can sustain an impact of 200 miles per hour wind. i asked would that house stand up to katrina. he said it probably would just not with him in it. they are building the buildings to last but they are still treating the storms with

respect. people have an opportunity to get out of the way of these storms, they feel like they might be in danger, they're going to do it. >> thank you so much. gulf port, mississippi. let's talk about where this hurricane is now. when the folks along the gulf will feel it? jennifer, tell me what you're seeing now. >> the residents down there are feeling the effects of hurricane isaac. you can see some of the those bands really working. now present winds at 75 miles per hour. it's located about 50 miles just to the south of the mississippi. 135 miles from new orleans. we're expecting it to make landfall later tonight. we're expecting the tropical storm conditions as well as hurricane conditions to continue to spread towards parts of the northern gulf. we're talking later throughout the afternoon. weather conditions are going to deteriorate as we track it for

tuesday. 8:00, category 1. making landfall later in the day. if it happens to mg hit this area down, it would happen earlier. if we go a bit further out this is wednesday, 8:00 a.m. that gives you an idea. the system will be slow moving and just to the west or just right on top of parts of new orleans and it will continue to weaken. when it moves slowly we'll talking about very heavy rainfall. you can see the rain working in right now. look at the bands of the lightning coming through. we have a tornado watch. we're talking heavy rainfall coming down. some of these locations will pick up roughly anywhere between 10 and 20 inches of rainfall and then when you add in that storm surge 8 to 12 feet for these areas right along the coast. for new orleans 7 to 11 and that's why they do have the flood gates closed now for parts of new orleans to try to protect

the region. >> quick question. what are the chances that it could intensify? >> there's a good chance we could see a strengthening over the last couple of hours. we have seen the pressure drop. that's an indication that this storm system, hurricane isaac is strengthening. people need to be prepared for this hurricane. it's likely to be a category 1. we worry whether it's going to be a tropical storm or the hurricane. it's really going to be a flooding event happening across the region. thank you. the president issuing warnings about isaac today in washington, d.c. this morning and just this past hour at a campaign rally in iowa. here he was. >> now is not the time to

dismiss official warnings. you need to take this seriously. our thoughts are with our fellow americans down on the gulf. they are preparing for the new orleans guy right here. they are obviously preparing for a big storm, hurricane isaac. we have been getting ready for this storm for days. we've got response teams and supplies in place. america will be there to help folks recover no matter what this storm brings because when disaster strikes we're not democrats or republicans first. we are americans first. >> fema already in louisiana, mississippi and alabama and ready with emergency supplies once this hurricane hits. just ahead, the president's message to college students in two crucial swing states. this is before he heads onto virginia. plus a reminder that they are not the only presidential

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here in tampa smart talk. john is margaret's favorite cnn contributor and political columnist. i first want to begin with you, sir. you are putting this piece out on daily beast of chris chris e christie. >> everyone is expecting chris christie to go attack dog. >> be the bully that many people are criticizing him to be. >> i think he's going to make a positive case based on policy for what a republican agenda could look like. it's very much against that stereo type of the keynote role. chris christie will take the high role and go positive. i think it says a lot about the tone. positive and someone that can appeal to swing voters. he's had to work with the democratic state legislature to get his agenda through.

>> primetime. >> made up their minds about mitt romney. they are going to trust chris christie and playing it straight and says it like it is to be positive and make a positive proactive case. >> let's talk education. this is where the conversation is also turning today. president obama in iowa, colorado, virginia. you also have mitt romney taking on out this full page ad highlighting unemployment rate for young people, tuition hikes and here they are battling it out. what does mitt romney do to get the youth vote. >> what does barack obama do to get the same youth vote he had last time? 62% for barack obama. they are the largest generation. 65 million will be eligible to vote. if half of them turned out like last time they would be 24%. >> i was talking to robert gibbs

a moment ago and i said are you worried. he said not at all. >> the enthusiasm isn't there. the question is are they going to turn out for president obama? they like president obama. they are disappointed in him. >> i feel a but coming on. >> let's get real on both sides. the obama camp is not going to get the same level of enthusiasm during the historic hope and change election. this is not a hope and change election. let's be real. on the flip side, let's be real that mitt romney has not inspired a lot of love from young people. he can point out youth unemployment but he's got to offer a specific solution. not just attack and distract. >> can we talk about mia love. so many people are so excited. chris christie is getting the air time.

here she is. the small town mayor from utah. she's speaking tonight. this will be the biggest political night of her life. >> it will be. this how convention speeches can make a difference in local races. she's running in utah. she's the mayor of sarasota. she's running as a six term democrat. >> in all of utah. >> and the only african-american elected from utah. >> she's they are putting her forward because demographics is destiny. she would be the first african-american woman as a republican to serve in congress. that's a pretty significant deficit. these star terms can make a big difference. they have a fundamental deficit.

>> the next generation of republican stars really has much more surprising diversity than has been acknowledged. >> people are definitely the buzz around here. they are excited to hear her speak. she's going to be talking about her parents and saying how she's going to be talking about how this is the america her parents knew. they didn't turn to washington for help. they turned within themselves. thank you very much. see you tomorrow. >> absolutely. coming up next, more from tampa as some ron paul delegates are making sure they're candidate is not forgotten. we're going to show you what just happened after congressman paul showed up on the floor. at usaa, we believe honor is not

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we are keeping one eye on hurricane isaac. here in tampa the republican national convention is getting under way. that means party leaders from all around the country arriving on the convention floor. dana bash is there in the thick of things. just a little while ago she caught up with john boehner. what did you ask him about? >> reporter: he's going to be here on the convention floor. he's going to be speaking at 7:00 tonight. he's also the permanent chair of this convention. he also is a top republican who has in the past few weeks said something quite interesting about mitt romney. he said something along the lines of you don't have to love him to vote for him. he believes the electorate that

people will vote against president obama. i asked what he thinks about mitt romney and his likeability factor. >> the point i was trying to make is make me fall in love with mitt romney. i said this election is about a referendum on the president's economic policies. that's the point i was making. this is an election about the economy and jobs. as a result i think our team has done a great job. >> you talk to his advisors. he does have a pob when it comes to the empathy factor and favorability. is that a problem? >> he's a very shy guy. he doesn't like to talk about himself. that's who he is. i've known mitt romney for a long time. he's a decent, honest, hard working guy. i think thursday he'll have a chance to reintroduce himself to the american people. never really had that chance.

he's been locked in this republican primary and locked into this battle with the president. as a result people have all different kinds of views of him. thursday night, clearly an important speech for him. i think he will have his chance to re-introduce himself to the american people. most of whom are just paying attention now. >> reporter: i asked speaker boehner is the female problem that republicans have the big, big gender gap between president obama and mitt romney. listen to what he said. >> the democrat party has a problem with men. if you look at us we've had this gender gap, for the last 20 years. it's something both parties need to pay attention to and clearly we do as well. >> obviously it's exacerbated by your colleague todd akin saying

what he said about rape and abortion and just the other day another republican candidate for the senate made a remark about rape that offended women. >> i made et clear that i disagree with those remarks. i thought they were wrong. frankly, i thought they were harmful. this is not their views. i'm pro-life. our party is pro-life. i believe in the sanctity of life. i'm glad my mother had all of us. having said that, that's a very divisive issue. my job is to bring people together, not much people apart. >> reporter: speaker boehner is going to address this convention in about three and a half hours. what is he going to say? he's going to say something that we hear him say every single day. he's going to say where are the jobs and try to turn the conversation back to the economy. that's where the republicans want it.

>> so much of the focus on the economy. dana bash. congressman ron paul, remember him? not going quietly. his supporters are famous for making noise far beyond their actual numbers. congressman paul got a heroes welcome a little while ago from supporters when he arrived inside that convention center. there he is flanked with an orchid lei. his backers chanted let him speak. they are very angry about this change in party rules that the romney camp is pushing here. that change would make it for difficult for future insurgent candidates, ie, ron paul to win the party's nomination. we're watching that. also, health care a huge topic on the campaign trial. question, what happens if the romney/ryan ticket wins?

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now on to the latest here on hurricane isaac which is set to make landfall in the gulf region around 10:00 eastern tonight. right around 12:30 this afternoon is when it was officially declared a hurricane. winds were clocked in at 75 miles per hour. as far as evacuations go, mandatory evacs are under ware throughout louisiana, mississippi. crews and reporters are saying they are riding this one out. they are staying put especially in new orleans which ordered not to opt those evacuations. i want to tell you about three airports, you have new orleans and mobile and gulf port have stopped commercial flight operations cancelling close to 1500 flights in anticipation of this hurricane.

mitt romney has said it very plainly, if elected he will act to repeal obama care beginning day one in office. democrats consider the health care reforms their biggest achievement in decades. it's landmark legislation. that includes the provision that bars insurers for denying coverage to people with preexisting conditions. people like ann romney who is to address this convention. she's a breast cancer survivor and diagnosed with multiple sclerosis back in 1998. with me now is our senior correspondent elizabeth cohen. where specifically is mitt romney on preexisting conditions? >> reporter: he's very clear that he will repeal obama care. that means people with preexisting conditions would not be guaranteed the ability to get

insurance. insurance companies would not have to take them. he wants to make it so that someone with a preexisting condition would be able to get health insurance if, and this is a big if, if they've had continuous coverage in the past. let's listen to mitt romney in his own words. >> someone has been continuously insured and develop a serious condition, let's say they lose their job or change jobs, they move and go to a new place, i don't want them to be denied insurance because they've got some preexisting condition. we're going to have to make sure the law we replace obama care with assures that people who have a preexisting condition are able to get insurance in the future. >> reporter: if someone has not had continuous coverage in the past and want to get insurance and have a preexisting condition, then there would be no guarantee at all. >> brooke. what does it mean when he says

continuous coverage as if people will not the denied access while they have continuous coverage. is that a qualifier? >> reporter: it is definitely a qualifier. he says if you've had a preexisting condition and have has continuous coverage in the past, he says you should be able to get new insurance even though you have cancer or heart disease. we asked what is continuous coverage in the past mean? we didn't get an answer on that. we don't know if you have to have been insured for the prior one year or five years or ten years. we just don't know. >> stand by. i want you to throw a question at the good senator sitting next to me. thank you for being here. >> thank you for having me. >> i want to begin with this. obama care gives a lot of financial assistance to folks when it comes to buying insurance.

if mitt romney makes good on the promise that he will be repealing obama care on day one, how will mitt romney help people find insurance? >> first of all you may have seen the new york times editorial on sunday that showed a glitch in the law says what the president has promised is very unlikely to happen which is why i thought people should have read the health care law as it got signed into law. first you have to pass it before you get to find out what's in it which is why today this is still a very unpopular law. americans across the country would like to have it appealed. >> if he wins and does repeal obama care for the people who are watching and thinking how will i get insurance, how will he help those people? >> with the promises the president made -- >> i understand what you're made. >> when the president said if you like what you have you can keep it. they cannot. >> what does mitt romney do? >> he wants to start over in a step by step way to let people

by insurance across state lines. let people who buy their own insurance have the same tax breaks as those who get it through work. deal with the lawsuit abuse out there. let small businesses join together to get better prices on insurance. the president continues to confuse the word coverage and care and talks about sending out 17 million medicaid cards but they aren't able to find doctors to take care of them. there's a huge difference between the coverage that the president talking about and care that people need. >> elizabeth cohen go ahead and throw a question to the senator. >> i have a question about children and preexisting conditions. let's say if romney is elected president, let's say there's parents who work hard but like many people the employer does not give them insurance. they don't qualify for medicaid so they are not buying insurance and that child gets diabetes or cancer. if mitt romney was elected president how would that child

get insurance? >> my wife is a cancer survivor. she's been through three operations. as both a doctor who has practiced for 25 years as well as a husband it's important that we help people with preexisting conditions. in wyoming we did that with a high risk pool that worked well. there were subsidies for folks with preexisting conditions. it worked in a lot better way and fairer way and cheaper way than what the government is proposing. it's unworkable and continues to be very unpopular. >> not all states have high risk pools and the ones that are out there don't work well. what would happen if that child were in a state would a high risk pool? >> if states would model what's successful, there's a lot to be done to help people. the problem with the obama health care law is he does something called guaranteed

issuance of insurance. he defines preexisting as somebody that wrecks their car today and driven to the hospital and then the insurance company has to sell them insurance while on the way to the hospital with their bone sticking out through their leg. that is not what most people think of as a preexisting condition. we need to help people with preexisting conditions. >> elizabeth cohen thank you. back to the weather as we're all watching all eyes on hurricane isaac. the storm taking aim straight at louisiana. we'll get the latest for the evacuation order next for the last road, the final road throughout. this is grand isle, next.

the first part of louisiana to really feel the brunt of isaac is grand isle. there are mandatory evacuations for the 1500 people that live there. ed is live there on this tiny island where i know winds have been picking up. tell me what you're seeing right

now. >> reporter: we are seeing some of the strongest winds we have felt all day. the latest calculations show that hurricane isaac is about 55 miles or so away from the mouth of the mississippi river. that means over the course of the next five to six hours we will begin seeing the strongest effects of this storm so begin to come on shore. this is definitely some of the hardest we've seen. what we haven't seen a great deal of is really rain that lasts for a long time. it's been coming through in short bands. we haven't seen the torrential downpours that have lasted a really long time in which we anticipate will happen here in the coming hours as well. as you mention 1500 people on this island. most have evacuated. the mayor said he thinks there's only about 30 people left on the island. many of those people include the emergency management officials and police officers and fire officials that have stayed back. as you can see here the

conditions beginning to deteriorate. we're going to be seeing the eye of the storm come right over us here. >> 30 people close to you, be crew covering this hurricane. stay safe. we appreciate you. . a first hand look at the damage inside damascus. we'll see the devastation as the neighborhood transforms into a war zone as people who live there fight to survive. please, don't miss this. and win fifty thousand dollars. congratulations you are our one millionth customer. people don't like to miss out on money that should have been theirs. that's why at ally we have the raise your rate 2-year cd. you can get a one-time rate increase if our two-year rate goes up. if your bank makes you miss out, you need an ally.

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an exclusive look inside syria. images you will not see anywhere else. cnn has obtained an account of life in syria for the past two weeks. we're not naming this journalist who is about the give us this report. you'll see fighting in neighborhoods close to the capitol city of damascus. trapped by the fighting are civilians who cannot even bury their dead. >> reporter: there is a check point on every road into damascus. soldiers like this one checking ids and scrutinizing faces. i'll admit, my hearth stops a little every time we have to go through them.

this time we were especially tense because after several weeks of hearing shelling falling we finally been able to travel into the neighborhood it. we were the first outsiders to do so since the bombardment began. what we find is war zone. this isn't homes or aleppo, this is damascus. for the last two weeks there's been in electricity or running water. many of the families fled to daraya but now daraya itself is under government bombardment and those that remain like this old man are trapped with no choice but to try to survive amidst to rubble of their home. they've had to set up a makeshift graveyard.

funeral processions are targeted so the dead are brought in the early morning hours. just that morning they dug a fresh grave. one of the local residents agreed to show us around. >> reporter: for a distance damascus looks almost unchanged. it's only as you wind through

this no man's land that you see the peppered between apartment buildings are craters. it's like a moonscape. pro-assad militia patrol these streets in cars and very quickly we're spotted. we're having to head back because we're worried we're being followed. it makes you realize what kind of risks these activists take as they move in and around these areas trying to document what's going on. it's impossible to verify how many activists have been picked up off these streets, but every

activist i meet has been detained more than once. [ speaking in a foreign language ] >> reporter: it's very difficult to get female activists to talk about what exactly it is that happens after they're detained by syrian authorities in anything other than the vaguest of terms. but they admit the speck tor of sexual violence looms large. [ speaking in a foreign language ]

>> reporter: an hour and three more check points later we're at a vantage point where we can see the city. back in the direction of where we've just been, smoke was once begin visible on the horizon. the shelling had begun again.

welcome back here to the cnn grill. we are adjacent to where everything's happening at the republican national convention. with me now is the associate professor of media, culture and communication at new york university. and we should point out, charlton, your area of expertise is the use of racial appeals in political communications. >> that's correct. >> so on that, welcome. >> thank you.

>> nice to see you in person. >> absolutely. >> i just want to begin with we'll call it a joke, mitt romney joking last week saying, hey, no one asked me for my birth certificate. no one is questioning his citizenship. so someone actually remarked" that's funny, it's the first joke romney's made in the whole campaign." just curious, your reaction, do you think he's funny or playing with fire? >> i think he's playing with fire. i'm not sure if he meant it as a joke. when you go back and watch the video, you notice he's not smiling when he tells it skbl uh-huh. >> so maybe he meant it that way, who knows. but the way it comes out is simply that he's appealing to a narrative that has been out there for a long time about barack obama. and the subtext is primarily about race and obama not quite being an american, not quite being one of us. so i think he is walking a very fine line in appealing to that. >> in saying that. >> yes. >> i want to talk about racial

code words or veiled appeals to racism, right? we have newt gingrich once upon a time called barack obama the food stamp president. now, he still by the way is still criticized for this. now he says "why do you assume food stamp refers to black?" my question to you is does he have a point? because there are plenty of white folks on food stamps. >> but in the united states it has a long history beginning primarily in the '80s with reagan, the welfare queens where the image of those who are on government assistance were people in the ghetto or/and black. and that has persisted over this time. so it's not a matter about, well, aren't there whites on welfare? aren't there latinos on welfare? this could mean anything when you look at the association that is clear over history. and those two things are almost

one in the same. >> let me take you further back to nixon. a modern template for republican victory was nixon's southern strategy built around southern states. do you see that changing any time soon? 60 seconds. >> i don't see that really changing very much. i think the same racial attitudes that were there then -- though there's been some progress, i think they're still there. in the last election as i recall the polls showed that people, democrats, republicans, those in the south especially but across the united states still believe in a lot of racial prejudices and stereotypes about african-americans. >> charlton, i have to go. i thank you. >> thank you. >> professor at new york university. that's it for me here live at the cnn grill. we're back here live again at this time tomorrow. we're going to turn things over to wolf blitzer. he's next door at the forum. "the situation room" begins after this quick break. [ female announcer ] quaker yogurt granola bars.

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